What To Drink If You’re Afraid Of Diet Soda

In theory, diet soda is a great idea. But are beverages packed with all the fun, fizz and flavor of soda pop sans the caloric punch too good to be true? Probably.

Drinking sugary carbonated drinks is obviously not good, but replacing sugar with chemicals that simulate sweetness is also pretty much not good.

Here are the reasons the Huffington Post gives for why their “Saying ‘No Thanks’ To Diet Soda:”

“Despite its name, it may not really be that diet friendly.”

Diet soda is just a less delicious version of the real thing. According to the Huffington Post, “Some observational research has linked weight gain and diet soda consumption, including a study presented at a meeting of the American Diabetes Association in 2011 which showed that waist circumference was 70 percent greater for diet soda drinkers than non-diet soda drinkers.” The jury is out as to why, but there are some theories.

“It confuses our brains.”

More research is needed, but basically, we by deceiving our brains into thinking we are indulging on sweet delicious stuff we are priming it to want more. It stimulates the appetite. Artificial sweeteners are (even compared to real sugar) super duper sweet and consuming them maintains a heavy preference for sugar which will make cutting sugar consumption difficult.

“It’s been linked to scary conditions like heart attack, stroke and Type 2 diabetes (though its exact role is still not totally clear).”

I’m scared and confused. Read what Huffpo said:

Researchers from the University of Miami and Columbia University found that people who drink diet soda every day have a 43 percent higher risk of experiencing a vascular event over a 10-year period, compared with people who didn’t drink soda… French researchers found an association between Type 2 diabetes and self-reported diet soda consumption. Plus, when comparing the diabetes risk of drinkers of diet with drinkers of regular sodas, researchers found that diet drinkers had the higher diabetes risk.

Keep in mind that these are observational studies and it could just be that behaviors associated with drinking diet soda will kill you and the artificial sweeteners have nothing to do with your horrible demise.

“There’s just so much we don’t know.”

Diet soda is too mysterious–we don’t really know what it does, but we do know that it is not a health food at all.

What should you drink instead of diet soda if regular old water is too boring? Um, I have the perfect solution.

Have a seltzer. I’m drinking one right now. Seltzer is versatile, delicious and calorie free without any creepy coloring or gruesome Frankenstein-sweetners. Fizzy water is an old-timey retro refreshment.

My favorite brand of anything ever, Polar, has a special edition summer line–I tried every single one and each flavor was better than the next (Cucumber Melon is so good, if it was a person I’d try to marry it). The flavor is subtle, more fragrant than anything. The summer line is inspired by cocktails and would be great mixed into cocktails. Or mixed with tea. Or mixed with juice. Doesn’t hurt that the bottles are aesthetically pleasing and the Polar bear logo is mad cute.

Drink seltzer instead of diet soda. It will hydrate and invigorate without any spooky secret unforeseen dangers attached.

I hate soda (both regular and diet) because of the cloying sweetness, but a seltzer/soda water/club soda with some lemon, lime or orange slices is divine. You can also mix a little lemonade or limeade with it if you want a little bit of sweetness. It’s what I drink when I want something more fun than water. It’s like cocktail without the booze!

Joanna Rafael

BINGO

Kay

Turns out…too much seltzer/carbonated water = depletes your phosphorus. So, not a great option either. (Found that out the hard way.)

MaureenABA

Claims that diet soda uniquely contributes to weight gain
have been proven false by multiple sources including the American Journal of
Clinical Nutrition: http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/97/3/604. Also, there is no scientific evidence to support the idea
that diet soda uniquely causes increased risk of vascular events or stroke – a
fact that is supported by The Institutes of Medicine, among others.

The bottom line is that low-calorie sweeteners have been extensively tested over decades and deemed safe by
regulatory agencies around the globe. Leading health organizations, including
the American Diabetes Association (ADA), endorse their use as a tool to regulate
calorie intake.- Maureen at American Beverage Association

Sandy Cook

If youre in a diet I would suggest not to drink this kind of drink cause it still a processed food it may has low calorie but its not healthy.